April seems to have flown by, and things are not sitting still in the world of Write Full Circle. My current writing projects are progressing nicely, though slowly. One of my recent short stories is ready for submission to appropriate markets, an exciting development on which I will, of course, keep you updated.
In the meantime, you guys are probably looking forward to another Writing Prompt Wednesday. In fact, this will be the LAST WPW for April 2016, so let’s send April out with a bang, shall we?
Write a poem about weather that DOESN’T include the letters ‘T’, ‘S’, ‘L’ or ‘R’ (nor their lowercase equivalents – no cheating via technicalities, people).
Prompt 2:
Write a story in which a thunderstorm is the main character.
Prompt 3:
“Is that a hurricane?”
Alrighty folks, that does it for Write Full Circle’s first month of Writing Prompt Wednesdays. In May, expect a fresh WPW theme, in addition to more articles similar to Write Full Circle’s first-ever post. I have a topic in mind for the next article, and I’m shooting to have it ready for posting next week.
’til next time,
– K R Parkinson
*Prompt 1 inspired by this tweet and an exercise from the excellent book Cryptologyby Albrecht Beutelspacher
Third time’s the charm as we enter week three of Write Full Circle’s regular feature, Writing Prompt Wednesday. This week I have a little something different for you, as the writing prompt will be the beginning of a story. Your job, Dear Reader, is to take what I have written and complete it. Feel free to post your results as a comment!
Writing Prompt:
I stood at the window of my fourth-story apartment and watched the traffic in the street below. What traffic there was, anyway. It was past the afternoon rush – five-thirty, maybe six o’clock – but the real reason for the lack of activity today was the rain. I hadn’t seen a rain like this in a long time. Didn’t like being cooped up. It had been raining for the past three days, almost non-stop. The weatherman said it would continue for another two days. Anticipate flooding downtown, he said.
It reminded me of the kind of rain we used to get where I grew up. Big droplets slapped the window and broke apart. Sounded almost like hail if you stood under the metal awning of the cafe down the block. Went there a couple hours ago, took a seat by the window. Not sure why I chose that one. I didn’t really care to watch the rain.
While remembering the soggy BLT I’d had for lunch, a taxi turned the corner, its wipers blasting the rain to one side. A woman got out of the taxi, shielding her head with a newspaper…
Okay, so now it’s your turn! Finish this prompt and post the results in the comments!
It’s time for your weekly writing prompt! Get ready for the second installment of our April Showers series:
Writing Prompt 1:
The first time you had to take cover during a storm.
Writing Prompt 2:
Describe a place, real or fictional, that always seems to have rainy conditions. If it is a fictional place, it can receive perpetual (never-ending) rain. What is this place like? What are its people like?
Okay, get out your writing implement of choice and be creative! Feel free to post your work or suggestions for future writing prompt themes in the comments below.
’til next time!
– K R Parkinson
Photo by Stuart Madden (Flickr: Rain Clouds over Liverpool) via Wikimedia Commons, under CC BY 2.0 License
This month’s theme is April Showers, and we have two prompts for you this week.
Prompt #1 : “Strange downpour”
Prompt #2: A couple runs to their car to escape the rain, only to discover the doors are locked and the keys are in the ignition…
Now, get those pens out and start writing something great! As always, feel free to leave comments, theme suggestions, or your Full Circle inspired by this week’s writing prompts in the space below.
Since the debut of Writing Prompt Wednesday is this week, I thought it would be a good idea to give you, the readers, the low-down on what to expect from Write Full Circle’s first regular feature.
It’s pretty simple, actually. Each Wednesday, Write Full Circle will post a new writing prompt based on that month’s theme. The prompt could be a single word, a phrase, or even a short scene or situation, which you can use as the starting-point for your own creative endeavor. Themes could be based on a holiday that month, a season, significant date, or something completely random, so there’s a lot of potential to get those creative juices flowing just by looking at a month’s particular theme and running with it.
As WFC matures there may be tweaks to the formula, but these ground rules give us a good place to start.
If you have a theme you would like to suggest, feel free to share it in the comments of our upcoming Writing Prompt Wednesday posts, or through one of the channels on the Contact page.
Writer’s block and you. And some old-timey Canucks.
Oh, hey! I didn’t see you there. Come on in, and welcome to Write Full Circle’s first post, the kick-off for my new project dedicated to exploring the writing craft.
Embarking on a new journey is usually an energizing experience, but oftentimes it’s accompanied by a certain amount of anxiety, as well. Engaged couples get cold feet. Actors suffer from stagefright. And writers become afflicted with Blank Page Syndrome, a form of writer’s block that happens right when they sit down to start something new and suddenly freeze.
For me, it begins when I open up my word processor and get a good look at the white sea that is the canvas for whatever project I am set to tackle. A tightness in my gut works its way up my chest, through my arms, and down into my fingers, paralyzing them over the keyboard as the whitespace fails to fill up and the cursor continues to blink at me, slowly, almost mockingly.
Whether it’s due to a fear of failure, a lack of enthusiasm for a thing we’re obligated to write, or simply the daunting prospect of starting a new project from scratch, with absolutely no guarantee (or so we think) that it will turn out the way we want, Blank Page Syndrome continues to rear it’s ugly, prose-quashing head for me, and I bet it does for you, too. For Write Full Circle’s inaugural post, I want to share a few things to remember the next time you’re struggling with this problem.
If a goal does not exist, it is necessary to invent one
Dubious paraphrasing of Voltaire aside, let’s face it: Blank Page Syndrome is really just another form of procrastination. For a long time I resisted the idea of self-imposed deadlines or daily writing goals, even though it’s a recommended tactic for battling the urge to delay working on a task. Who wants to be pressured while doing something “for fun,” right?
Well, I’ll be the first to say that I was wrong.
In exchange for a bit of added pressure, the rewards of improved productivity and satisfaction with my work have been immense. The key is to start small, with deadlines or goals that are achievable in a short period of time, say 360 words in 1 hour (hello, blog-name reference!). If you’re writing fiction, you could start with a single short scene that you want to work on, and not stop until you’ve finished the first draft of that scene. Different methods work for different people, but if you’re dissatisfied with your productivity, making yourself stick to some type of goal can truly make a difference.
The only way to lose is not to play
The blank page only wins if you let fear stop you from writing the story you want (or need) to tell. Although I reserve the right to make exceptions to this rule, I believe that the only thing worse than a story told badly (or just a plain ol’ bad story) is a story that never gets told at all. Sure, when all is said and done, that book about a gawky, telekinesis-wielding teen may suck harder than a Hoover-brand black hole, but it might also end up being kinda successful.
In most cases, I’d rather something exist and turn out to be awful than remain stranded forever in the Land of the Lost (Ideas).
You can’t solve a jigsaw puzzle if it’s still in the box
When I first started writing, I tried to make sure that whatever story I wanted to tell would be a winner from word one, thinking I could save myself time with fewer rewrites. Guess how far I got with that plan?
Word three.
That’s an exaggeration, of course, but the fact is that writing is a lot like solving a jigsaw puzzle: there’s just no way to know how it fits together until all the pieces are out on the table and turned face-up.
This analogy occurred to me at some point after writing enough work for Adventure Gamers, where we have the freedom to organize the content of our articles in the way that seems best for a particular assignment (pending final approval from our editor-in-chief, of course). When I first started, I would often write and edit my work at the same time. While this approach isn’t too detrimental for short pieces, it’s not ideal, and for anything over a certain length there’s simply too many pieces to pull them out of the box a few at a time, expecting everything to fit together perfectly, one after the other.
Final thoughts
There’re few feelings as uncomfortable for a writer as being frozen, unable to bring their thoughts out onto the page. Remember, though, that most of us have been there at one time or another. It’s simply part of the writer’s journey, but so is learning to conquer it. Keeping these tips in mind the next time you find yourself staring at a blank screen may be just the help you need to banish Blank Page Syndrome the next time you start a new project.
Write Full Circle 